PLANT­ING TIPS

Trees can be bought as bare-root spec­i­mens from Novem­ber un­til March; th­ese will prob­a­bly be cheaper than con­tainer­ised. Root ball trees (in­set right) are ex­pen­sive but worth buy­ing if you want quick re­sults. Th­ese are planted with their mesh sur­round, which might be wire or hes­sian.

All trees need to be care­fully planted if they are to sur­vive. This means pre­par­ing a de­cent-sized plant­ing hole, about three times as wide as the pot. Add fer­tiliser to the bot­tom of the hole to get the tree off to a good start.

What­ever the tree, the roots need soak­ing be­fore plant­ing. If you are plant­ing a bare root tree spread them out from the cen­tre. If the tree is in a pot, make sure the roots aren’t pot bound; if they are, en­cour­age them to spread out into the hole you have pre­pared. You should not need to do any­thing to the root­balled types.

All trees must be planted at ex­actly the level they were in the pot or ground (see in­set bot­tom). On bare root trees, the part of the trunk that was in the soil will be darker.